In Letter to President Bush, Reid and Pelosi Call on Bush to Publicly Express His Commitment to Paying Back the Social Security Trust Fund While Visiting the Bureau of Public Debt

Today, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to President George W. Bush urging the president to publicly express his commitment to paying back the Social Security Trust Fund, noting such a commitment would ensure Social Security’s solvency for decades to come. While the president travels to West Virginia to visit the Bureau of Public Debt, the Democratic leaders urged the president to keep the government’s obligation to America’s workers who have paid into the Trust Fund for years and fully expect to receive their benefits.

The Leaders wrote, “We are writing today to urge you to publicly express your commitment to pay back the Social Security Trust Fund for all Social Security payroll taxes diverted for other purposes.”

The Leaders also questioned the wisdom of statements made by the president and members of his administration that there is no Trust Fund and that the government may not meet its commitment.

“It is simply wrong to suggest that the Social Security Trust Fund does not exist, or that the securities held by the Trust Fund are merely pieces of paper. For a President to even suggest that the federal government might, for the first time, default on a security backed by the full faith and credit of the United States unnecessarily misleads American workers about the health of the Social Security program. Just as significantly, these statements could raise needless doubts among American and foreign investors about the United States’ willingness to meet its fiscal obligations.”

The Democratic Leaders again expressed their commitment to working with the president to strengthen Social Security. By first doing no harm, paying back the Trust Fund and working to increase savings, Democrats are ready to work together to find ways to ensure Social Security will continue to be the most successful social program ever created.